Views on health change with age

As you pass through the various stages of life, your views concerning your health change with each stage.

When you are young, being sick is viewed as just a temporary inconvenience and interruption of your normal lifestyle.

In your 30s and 40s, although not really worried about your health, you are bothered by the fact that you can't physically do some of the things you once did when you were in your 20s.

The possibility of having a serious illness starts entering your mind during the late 40s and early 50s.

Minor chest discomfort, that previously was casually dismissed, now raises the specter of a possible heart attack.

You no longer consider yourself infallible.

In your 60s you read the obituaries of people the same age as you. You are now concerned that your various aches and pains may represent some serious disease.

As you enter your 70s, you realize that your present health is as good as it is going to get and your goal is to maintain it.

During your 80s, you are just happy that you are in fairly good health and still around to enjoy each day.

But no matter what your age or stage of life you are in, be grateful for your good health when you have it and don't take it for granted. It is one of your most precious gifts.

Dr. Murray Feingold, a Hazleton native, is on the staff of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is also the medical editor of CBS Boston Radio and writes a syndicated medical column.

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